These are the outlines of a few courses of a Business Quality Management Degree. Read and answer the given questions.
The Business Quality Management Degree is designed to provide learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement organizational change through quality improvement in all organizational processes of a business. The Business Quality Management curriculum is designed to produce industry leaders capable of assessing the impact of current management processes on operations within a business. Learners will, utilize information to improve the quality of products or services and evaluate customer satisfaction based on the consistent delivery of top quality products and services that are completed on time, and meet specific customer defined levels of quality. Learners will gain experience in the use of appropriate accounting and financial functions for decision making within today's business environment.
Degree Outcomes:
1. Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of key business concepts and generally accepted business quality management theories and practices including Lean, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and Benchmarking techniques. .
2. Develop skills in financial decision making, and accounting for a career as a quality improvement manager.
3. Apply critical thinking to the completion of projects in the field of quality management.
4. Utilize leadership skill to direct people, and process in a complex business environment.
5. Create documents which showcase an understanding of the use of different technological quality based tools, including Six Sigma, Lean, and Total Quality Management.
6. Apply ethical reasoning in all aspects and levels of Business Management including local, federal and international environment.
7. Formulate effective written and oral communication.
Assessment Outcomes:
Critical Thinking - The ability to analyze information to arrive at a reasoned judgment of what to do or believe.
Ethical Behaviour - The conscious practice and accepted standards of fairness and integrity in all endeavours.
Leadership - The ability to create and communicate a vision that inspires others to act or achieve a desired goal
Communication - The ability to communicate effectively using reading, writing, listening, behaviour, media, quantitative data, and technology.
Career Preparation - The cultivation of knowledge, attitude, creative skills, to excel in life's chosen work".
Core Major Requirements:
Business Quality Management
This course is an overview of the key elements that comprise a superior quality management program and the most accepted techniques (e.g., benchmarking, Baldrige criteria) for achieving quality.
Upon successfully completing this course, the learner will be able to:
• Assess the role of good management in high performance companies.
• Explain the role of an effective management system and list the key principles of an effective management system.
• Develop effective assessment criteria for a management system and define the assessment process.
• Describe assessment process design including components, criteria, processes, and tailoring to the organization.
• Prepare for assessment including assigning leadership roles, defining scope, timing, budget, support, and mobilizing organizational support.
• Employ methods for engaging leadership and ensuring their active participation in the assessment process.
• Explain how to select, assemble, and prepare assessment teams.
• Describe the data gathering process and the strategy for data gathering.
• Prepare assessment reports including data analysis, development of findings, and report writing.
• Effectively present assessment reports.
• Translate improvement priorities into action plans and implement the plans to ensure gains are sustained.
• Analyze the role of assessment in the annual planning cycle and to the achievement of the organization's vision.
• Identify quality improvement principles in selected case studies.
Team Management:
The study of teams and the impact of self-directed teams on continuous improvement. The focus will be on viewing the organization as a series of interactive teams with emphasis on the skills and knowledge essential to organizing teams, evaluating data, measuring progress, plotting accomplishments, and developing empowered teams.
Course Outcomes: Upon completing this course, the student will:
• Understand the key elements of the "Process Excellence Approach"
• Understand what a "team" is
• Know the "Scientific Approach" to solving problems and improving processes
• Understand the roles and responsibilities of team members
• Know how to prepare and conduct effective team meetings
• Recognize the appropriate improvement methodology to apply in various situations
• Know techniques for dealing with team dynamics and conflict
Organizational Leadership:
This course is a study of leadership models and styles, including the principles of the latest leadership thinkers. The focus will be particularly on leadership within organizations emphasizing motivational, decision-making, communication, and employee involvement skills. Special emphasis will be given to diversity management, including minorities and gender issues, in the workplace.
Upon successfully completing this course, the learner will be able to:
• Discuss major theoretical perspectives and concepts associated with organization leadership.
• Apply relevant concepts to organizational leadership experiences.
• Identify and evaluate organizational leadership concepts in projects.
• Demonstrate organizational leadership skills necessary for effective operations in a professional setting.
Project Management:
This course covers the study and understanding of project management dealing with knowledge of the product and the environment in which the project is realized. The knowledge of technologies involved, financial, and contractual matters are included. Learners will also develop an understanding that human relations and communications are critical to project management.
Upon successfully completing this course, the learner will be able to:
• Describe the purpose of project management and its contribution to the success of organizations today.
• Apply effective project management principles and practices to diverse and complex projects.
• Execute effective project management plans that account for all of the project objectives, tasks, people, technologies, and other resources required for success.
• Provide effective project team leadership.
• Ensure the ethical, legal, and socially responsible conduct and outcome of projects.
Statistical Techniques:
The course is a survey of descriptive and inferential statistics, probability theory, sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and study of variability, regression and correlation. Emphasis will be placed on statistical applications and how to apply statistics in reducing large amounts of data into a meaningful form for effective decision making.
Upon successfully completing this course, the learner will be able to:
• Explain topics, such as frequency distribution, elementary probability theory, estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis.
• Evaluate and select the appropriate statistical techniques to solve practical problems in business and economics.
• Use statistical software such as MS Excel to solve business and economic problems.
• Read and interpret computer-generated statistical outputs.
Marketing:
Product concepts from idea to delivery to the consumer will be examined. Pricing, promotion, distribution, and planning for the marketing effort will also be covered. Emphasis on being an informed consumer is included. Course procedures include oral and written communications, group interaction in class, and a group project.
Upon successfully completing this course, the learner will be able to:
1. Explain the basic concepts and techniques used in making domestic and global marketing decisions.
2. Apply marketing concepts and techniques in making business, personal, and societal decisions.
3. Discuss the use of technology in the study and practice of marketing.
4. Describe and reflect upon the significance of marketing activities in the formulation of comprehensive strategies for profit or non-profit oriented organizations.
5. Analyze and evaluate business literature critically and utilize the same in research.
Finance for Management:
This course provides a basic understanding of the use of accounting information for managerial decision making. Learners will differentiate between classifications of costs and assign costs to products and services, record the flow of costs through accounts using process, job-order, and activity-based costing methods, use variance analysis to compare actual to budgeted costs, and use various managerial accounting methods such as cost-volume-profit and capital investment analysis to evaluate possible solutions to business issues.
Upon successfully completing this course, the learner will be able to:
• Describe the purpose of managerial accounting in an organization.
• Use cost-volume-profit analysis to make managerial decisions.
• Record the flow of costs through accounts under job-order costing systems.
• Record the flow of costs through accounts under process costing systems.
• Record the flow of costs through accounts using activity-based costing systems.
• Support inventory and segment management decisions using absorption and variable costing.
• Evaluate the performance of a firm or responsibility center by comparing budgeted data to actual data.
• Evaluate make-or-buy, special-order, keep-or-drop, sell-or-process-further, and product-mix decisions.
• Evaluate capital investment opportunities.
What skills and experience develop throughout the Business Quality Management Degree program? How would someone apply their skills and experience to a career as a Management Specialist by completing the degree program in Business Quality Management. Is there any additional learning needed to gain experience?